When Matt, my oldest son, was in 5th grade, his class held a "Pioneer Day." Students were to bring in homemade soups and breads, and supplies for simple crafts such as corn husk dolls. While December storms raged without (usually a bit of literary license in Albuquerque) they were going to hunker down in a classroom lit by kerosene lamp and candlelight, learn their lessons on chalk boards with chalk, play simple, non-electronic games, and live like Laura Ingalls Wilder had in Little House on the Prairie.
I decided that if my son was going to eat like a pioneer, he needed to learn how pioneers cooked. We would practice pioneer thriftiness in our own kitchen.
Very few people practice the kind of thriftiness that our foremothers practiced. We don't have to. We have supermarkets stuffed with everything we need. Most people I know start a soup pot with a can of broth. Mrs. Ingalls didn't have a supermarket at her disposal. She made her broth from scratch, usually using the tag ends of vegetables and leftover bones. I told Matt that we were going to make broth the pioneer way.
We started by placing the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey into a large pot. Then we peeled carrots and threw the peelings and the tops onto the bones. We threw in the leafy tops and thick bottoms of a head of celery and the ends of an onion. We sliced the tops and bottoms off a tomato and threw them into the pot, too. We threw in some herbs and seasonings, covered it all with water, and left it to simmer for the better part of a day. By the time we were ready to strain the broth and pick the last bits of meat off the bones, the whole house smelled wonderful.
Matt proudly carried in his crockpot of soup of Pioneer Day, and he was so enthusiastic about what he'd learned that the teacher asked him to share the experience with the class. Not everyone was impressed. As he explained all the tag-ends that went into the pot, one mother's face expressed more and more horror. Finally, she walked over to me and whispered in my ear.
"Don't tell me your son made this soup out of garbage," she said. When I told her that peelings and ends were not garbage, and that yes, Matt had done exactly what he'd said, her expression moved from horror to revulsion. She quickly told her daughter to put down her spoon and pour the soup out. She then announced that her soup had been made the right way: it had come from a can. I had to chuckle. Didn't she know that the company who canned that soup had gone through the same process as Matt had to make their soup?
We continue to make what's become known as garbage soup every year after Thanksgiving, and it has never failed to satisfy our bellies and our. If you've never made it, perhaps this is the year to try a little bit of pioneer thriftiness.
I decided that if my son was going to eat like a pioneer, he needed to learn how pioneers cooked. We would practice pioneer thriftiness in our own kitchen.
Very few people practice the kind of thriftiness that our foremothers practiced. We don't have to. We have supermarkets stuffed with everything we need. Most people I know start a soup pot with a can of broth. Mrs. Ingalls didn't have a supermarket at her disposal. She made her broth from scratch, usually using the tag ends of vegetables and leftover bones. I told Matt that we were going to make broth the pioneer way.
We started by placing the carcass of the Thanksgiving turkey into a large pot. Then we peeled carrots and threw the peelings and the tops onto the bones. We threw in the leafy tops and thick bottoms of a head of celery and the ends of an onion. We sliced the tops and bottoms off a tomato and threw them into the pot, too. We threw in some herbs and seasonings, covered it all with water, and left it to simmer for the better part of a day. By the time we were ready to strain the broth and pick the last bits of meat off the bones, the whole house smelled wonderful.
Matt proudly carried in his crockpot of soup of Pioneer Day, and he was so enthusiastic about what he'd learned that the teacher asked him to share the experience with the class. Not everyone was impressed. As he explained all the tag-ends that went into the pot, one mother's face expressed more and more horror. Finally, she walked over to me and whispered in my ear.
"Don't tell me your son made this soup out of garbage," she said. When I told her that peelings and ends were not garbage, and that yes, Matt had done exactly what he'd said, her expression moved from horror to revulsion. She quickly told her daughter to put down her spoon and pour the soup out. She then announced that her soup had been made the right way: it had come from a can. I had to chuckle. Didn't she know that the company who canned that soup had gone through the same process as Matt had to make their soup?
We continue to make what's become known as garbage soup every year after Thanksgiving, and it has never failed to satisfy our bellies and our. If you've never made it, perhaps this is the year to try a little bit of pioneer thriftiness.
General Directions for Garbage Soup
These are just general directions. Because garbage soup is made thriftily from whatever you have lying about, it will be different every time.
In the weeks leading up to soup making, save any vegetable odds and ends in a zip lock bag or plastic storage container in the freezer. Have three green beans left over from dinner? Into the bag they go! A spoonful of corn or peas, or a slice of onion? They are freezer bound!
On the day of soup making, peel some carrots and turn them into sticks or rounds. Package them and put them in the fridge for later eating, but add the carrot tops and peelings to the soup pot. Cut the bottom and the leafy ends off the celery and throw them into the soup pot, too. Cut the celery into nice sticks and put them in the fridge for later snacking. Slice the top and bottom off an onion and throw them into the pot. Dice or slice the onion and put in the fridge. Throw in whatever other odds and ends you might have lying around in the fridge - tomatoes on the verge of going mushy, for instance.
Add the leftover bones from a turkey (or chicken, or beef roast) into the pot. Add 5 black peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a teaspoon of salt, then cover everything with water. Bring slowly to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for several hours. (You can also throw all this into a crockpot and let it cook all day that way, too.)
When the stock tastes like stock, strain it through a colander into a large bowl. Press down on the celery and carrots to get all their juices out. Pick off any remaining meat and store it in the fridge. If your bowl has a lid, cover it and put it in the fridge. If it doesn't, transfer the stock to other containers.
When your stock is cool (I do this the next day) you can skim off any fat with a spoon and throw it away. At this point you can divide it up and store in the freezer for later use, or proceed to make garbage soup.
To make soup, put diced onion, carrots, and celery in a saucepan with a little fat (oil, butter, or some of the fat you just skimmed off the stock.) and cook until soft and a little brown. Pour some or all of your stock back into a saucepan. Add anything else you want. A diced up potato or two, or a handful of barley are good. When the vegetables are cooked, add any precooked things, like that bag of extra beans and corn you have in the freezer, or some leftover cooked rice, plus the meat you picked off the bones. Adjust seasonings by adding a little salt or a splash of worcestershire sauce. Enjoy!
In the weeks leading up to soup making, save any vegetable odds and ends in a zip lock bag or plastic storage container in the freezer. Have three green beans left over from dinner? Into the bag they go! A spoonful of corn or peas, or a slice of onion? They are freezer bound!
On the day of soup making, peel some carrots and turn them into sticks or rounds. Package them and put them in the fridge for later eating, but add the carrot tops and peelings to the soup pot. Cut the bottom and the leafy ends off the celery and throw them into the soup pot, too. Cut the celery into nice sticks and put them in the fridge for later snacking. Slice the top and bottom off an onion and throw them into the pot. Dice or slice the onion and put in the fridge. Throw in whatever other odds and ends you might have lying around in the fridge - tomatoes on the verge of going mushy, for instance.
Add the leftover bones from a turkey (or chicken, or beef roast) into the pot. Add 5 black peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a teaspoon of salt, then cover everything with water. Bring slowly to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for several hours. (You can also throw all this into a crockpot and let it cook all day that way, too.)
When the stock tastes like stock, strain it through a colander into a large bowl. Press down on the celery and carrots to get all their juices out. Pick off any remaining meat and store it in the fridge. If your bowl has a lid, cover it and put it in the fridge. If it doesn't, transfer the stock to other containers.
When your stock is cool (I do this the next day) you can skim off any fat with a spoon and throw it away. At this point you can divide it up and store in the freezer for later use, or proceed to make garbage soup.
To make soup, put diced onion, carrots, and celery in a saucepan with a little fat (oil, butter, or some of the fat you just skimmed off the stock.) and cook until soft and a little brown. Pour some or all of your stock back into a saucepan. Add anything else you want. A diced up potato or two, or a handful of barley are good. When the vegetables are cooked, add any precooked things, like that bag of extra beans and corn you have in the freezer, or some leftover cooked rice, plus the meat you picked off the bones. Adjust seasonings by adding a little salt or a splash of worcestershire sauce. Enjoy!
